Carl Harrap

In Australia, the inquiry whether a combination of integers is patentable subject matter may be deeply influenced by the way the claim preamble and objects of the invention are drafted. Failure to appreciate this can result...more

A Full Court of Australia’s Federal Court has handed down its appeal decision in Research Affiliates LLC v Commissioner of Patents.
While there was anticipation that the decision would provide general guidance on the...more

A Full Court of Australia’s Federal Court has handed down its appeal decision in Research Affiliates LLC v Commissioner of Patents [2014] FCAFC 150.
This decision deals with the patentability of computer implemented...more

Anyone with an interest in the patentability of computer-implemented inventions in Australia has been awaiting judgment in the appeal to the Research Affiliates LLC v Commissioner of Patents decision.
Anticipation is...more

Over the decades, the use of patents to protect “software” or “computer implemented” inventions has been the subject of much debate: both on the philosophical question of whether such inventions should be patentable, and on...more

In the first published decision by the Australian Patent Office for 2014, Aqua Index Ltd [2014] APO 2 (‘Aqua Index’), the Delegate of the Commissioner of Patents has refused yet another patent application for not being...more

If an applicant for a patent has misled the Commissioner in a material respect in the course of procedures which led to the grant of the patent, he should not have the benefit of his misleading conduct.
It is clear...more

The Australian Patent Office will participate in the pilot of the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (Global PPH).
What is the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (Global PPH)?
The Global PPH is a new global system...more

An ongoing issue in Australian patent law is the extent to which computer-implemented inventions are eligible subject matter for patentability.
Two single-judge Federal Court decisions on this matter have been handed...more

The NZ government yesterday released further amendments to tighten the proposed legislation around software patentability. The amendments clarify that while the partial ban on software patents is still on the agenda, it has...more

The patentability of computer implemented inventions in Australia has finally been clarified by the Federal Court. The decision in Research Affiliates provides valuable guidance on how to prepare patent applications for...more